Rainbow Cupcakes!

I attempted rainbow cupcakes last night! I just couldn't wait to try out my new Wilton Food Colouring Gels/Pastes.

Here's the recipe for the basic mixture, which makes about 12 (To make 12 muffin sized cupcakes, change the 115g ingredients to 200g):

• 115g of softened butter
• 115g of caster sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 tsp of vanilla paste (1 tsp of vanilla extract will work, too)
• 115g of self raising flour

1. Preheat your oven to 180C and line your bun tray with baking cases.

2. Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat together until light and fluffy.

3. Gradually beat in the eggs and vanilla paste/extract.

4. Sift in the flour and fold.

5. Spoon the mixture into your cases and bake for around 20 minutes.

For the colouring, I separated the mixture into 7 bowls, added a food colouring to each one, and then layered each colour into the cases. A small teaspoon of mixture was enough for each layer. This part did take a while, but I had nothing better to do!

I'm quite happy with the results, I must say! I'm going to try ombre ones in a few days, with some going from blue to green, and some going from pink to orange. The teals and corals in the middle of these ombres will be so pretty!

Barry M Limited Edition Yellow

Barry M has recently brought out some Limited Edition shades, with a pink and green exclusive to Superdrug, and a (different) pink and yellow exclusive to Boots. They all have patterned lids and are priced at £3.99. Of course, I just had to get the yellow! On its own, it takes 2-3 coats (some nails only took 3, though, because of my application), and with a white base coat, 1-2 coats. I'm wearing Barry M's Matt White underneath this manicure, and even though it means I'm wearing just as many coats, it made the application of the yellow a lot easier. It should hopefully help with any staining, too! On my ring finger, I used Barry M's Nail Art Pens in Black and White to do an aztec design. No where near perfect, but if you don't look closely, it looks pretty cool! To seal this, I used Barry M's All in One Basecoat, Topcoat & Nail Hardener. It's all about Barry M this week!

Have you picked up any of the Limited Edition Barry M shades?

Peachy!

The Body Shop's Vineyard Peach scent is back for the Summer! By the time I realised they were discontinuing it in the Winter, it was too late to stock up, so I was delighted when I heard that it was returning for the warmer months. I bought these last week when there was a 35% off code floating around, so I paid £8.45 for the body butter, and £2.60 for the shower gel. More than I would normally spend on such products, but honestly, they're worth it! They just smell so juicy.

The 35% off code is no longer valid, but The Body Shop always has a code out! You can currently save £10 when you spend £25, or save £25 when you spend £50, with the code 'JUICY' (this is valid until the 28th July).

What is your favourite range from The Body Shop?

Summer Makeup Routine - Reviews and Swatches

The weather has clearly had an effect on my makeup choices, and without realising, I've changed my taupes and berries for bronzes and peaches! So, here's what I've been wearing over the last month or so:

I've been starting off using my MUA Cover & Conceal Concealer in Fair. I've actually been using this for about 6 months, and for £1.50, think it's pretty good! It has a light to medium coverage, and a dewy finish.

I've then been using my Look Beauty Mattify Me Powder to control any shine. I'm not fussy when it comes to powders; this is just the one I'm using up at the moment!

For brows, I use my trusty ELF Eyebrow Kit in Medium. In the Winter, I use the wax because it's darker, but in the Summer, I use the powder, which is lighter and warmer in tone.

To add some definition to my lower lash line, I've been using Maybelline's Colour Tattoo Eyeshadow in On and On Bronze. When it's colder, I tend to gravitate towards taupes and dark browns, but I've been loving this for the warmer months. 

Rimmel's Scandaleyes Waterproof Eyeliner in Nude is what I've been using on my waterline. This just brightens and makes my eyes appear bigger.

Then, I've been using my new favourite mascara - Maybelline's Rocket. I love every Maybelline mascara I've tried, and this is no exception. It does everything a mascara should without clumping a single bit. Great stuff.

I've used the flash for this photo so you can see the shades better! I like to change up my blush a little, and these are the three I've been using the most recently. 

NYX's Cream Blush in Natural is an all time favourite, whatever the weather. 

Dainty Doll's Powder Blush in You Are My Sunshine is a peachy pink with fine gold shimmer running through it (super pretty), 

and MUA's Lolly Powder Blush has been my go to orange blusher. 

Tony Moly Petite Bunny Gloss Bar in Juicy Peach, Bourjois Colour Boost Lip Crayon in Peach on the Beach, Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in Fuchsia-ristic, MUA Power Pout in Justify, Maybelline Colour Sensational Lipstick in Coral Tonic, Collection (2000) Cream Puff Moisturising Lip Cream in Fairy Cake, and Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Pink Blossom.

Tony Moly Petite Bunny Gloss Bar in Juicy Peach, Bourjois Colour Boost Lip Crayon in Peach on the Beach, Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in Fuchsia-ristic, MUA Power Pout in Justify, Maybelline Colour Sensational Lipstick in Coral Tonic, Collection (2000) Cream Puff Moisturising Lip Cream in Fairy Cake, and Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Pink Blossom.

As you can see, I change my lip products up a lot more frequently! And you can also see I'm going through a peach/coral phase. How pretty are they all? I'm going to have some individual posts on a few of these because they deserve some attention!



So, that's the makeup I'm currently wearing. I have swatches of the blushes, Colour Tattoo, and Scandaleyes eyeliner on my blog already, so just search for them in the search bar to your left :)

We'll miss you, Puddin'

Our beautiful, little Puddin' died yesterday. A police officer knocked on the door asking if she was our cat down by the road. She was by our sides during tea an hour earlier, not even that. Puddin' will have been 5 next week, on the 23rd July. She was a timid little kitty, but very affectionate when other people weren't around. You couldn't read a book without her nudging you! And she was just as affectionate to the dogs, sticking her head into Buddy's ears and flub whenever she could. Her heavy breathing always made us smile (after we knew there wasn't a creep under our beds! She was that loud), and she also made Mysti's days (one of our other cats; her auntie) by allowing her to use her as a pillow. You couldn't blame Mysti, though, because Puddin' was a fluffy and tubby little thing. 

It looks like her death was quick, which is one thing to be thankful for, if we can even be thankful for anything in this situation. We're going to miss her so much. Rest in Peace, Puddin'.

Ciaté Nail Polish in Hoopla

Natural lighting, flash. 

My phone camera was better at capturing the shade of this polish, so sorry the quality isn't the best!

I have't worn a pink in ages! Hoopla is a light, peachy pink. It's very delicate and girly; just what I was in the mood for. I'm wearing 3 coats in the photos above, which isn't bad, but it's not outstanding, either. I know some people don't like applying more than 2 coats, but I personally don't mind going up to 3 because I keep my polish on for a week, making the extra painting time worth it. It's when we get to 4 coats that I have a problem! I don't have anything like this in my collection. The closest shade I have is Seventeen's Pink Lemonade, but that's a little more orange. I still wouldn't pay £9 for it, though, because I don't like spending over £5 on a nail polish. However, for around £3, I'm glad this was one of my Ciaté sale picks!

Do you have any peachy pink polish recommendations?

Ciaté Nail Polishes

On the 30th June, Ciaté were offering 50% off their nail polishes, and there was a 30% off and free delivery code floating around, too. This made each polish around £3.15 instead of £9, so I couldn't resist! I hadn't actually heard anything about it until I saw a tweet from the brand in the afternoon. I soon let my Twitter followers know, though, because I know a lot of them are polish addicts like myself! I know there was the whole Ciaté vs. blogger caviar trademark situation last year, but it didn't involve me or stop me from liking the shades they offer. So, from left to right, I chose Big Yellow Taxi, Pepperminty, Fun Fair, and Hoopla. I have so many more lilac and pink polishes compared to yellow and mint ones, so was surprised to find I don't actually have any dupes for Fun Fair or Hoopla. Fun Fair looks like your typical lavender in the photos, but it's more pink than my others. I swatched each shade earlier, and they all took 2 coats. I can see myself adding a 3rd if my application isn't the best, though. 

They took 10 days to dispatch, which isn't acceptable in my eyes. They told me it was because of the sale, which I can understand if there was a slight delay, but not 10 days long! Other popular brands/online shops manage to dispatch orders within, at most, 5 days when they have sales on. The Ciaté one was a one off sale, I'll give you that, but I still wasn't pleased. It arrived quickly once it had been dispatched, though. Probably because it wasn't with Royal Mail! I'm also glad they weren't carried with Royal Mail because my postman has the tendency to drop my packages through the porch window and onto the concrete floor.

I'm going to try and slow down on the nail polish buying front now because my collection is getting rather large! And I don't think I can even get rid of any because I love them all.

Did you take advantage of this sale?